250 DISEASES OF THE TEETH, ETC. 



at the moment it is wanted, and therefore is one which one 

 is frequently forced to seek a substitute for. A professional 

 friend of mine has told me, he has on several occasions, when 

 the obstruction has existed in the throat, succeeded with the 

 butt-end of a waggon whip. Cavalry people might have 

 recourse to a rough-rider^s whip. A stout cane of any sort 

 might answer the purpose. Whatever is to be or can be had, 

 no time is to be lost. A draught of water is sometimes 

 effectual ; though the probang is, after all, the proper thing 

 to be had recourse to. And in the selection of his probang 

 let the practitioner bear in mind the very pertinent practical 

 remark of Mr. Cartwright, when he says:^ ^'^As tbe oesophagus 

 of the horse is considerably less than that of a cow, it is 

 highly important to veterinarians to have by them various 

 sized probangs, and such as are pretty elastic, so as to give the 

 necessary curve about the larynx." For a very interesting 

 paper on this subject, published in 'The Veterinarian,^ the 

 profession are indebted to Mr. King, of Stanmore. 



Mr. King observes, that choking is common among old 

 horses whose grinders are imperfect, and whose keen appe- 

 tites incite them to bolt their corn. He has seen the 

 oesophagus in this manner distended '^almost from the 

 stomach to the throat -P a case in which recovery is very rare. 

 Mr. King^s practice is to pour down fluids, and press and 

 squeeze the oesophagus, with the view of commingling the 

 liquid introduced with the masses of corn; and thus, by 

 manipulation, has he occasionally succeeded. 



The following case shows how much a practitioner may be 

 led astray by false or imperfect accounts: — 



Some years ago Mr. King was called to a horse belonging 

 to a coach proprietor. The owner said his horse "had a 

 bad sore throat, and could not swallow. ^^ . Mr. King examined 

 the throat and gullet, but, finding nothing, suspected 

 nothing. The horse was blistered and drenched; but the 

 liquids all returned, no effort being made to swallow them. 

 The animal died : and, on examination, was found, within 



1 In his account of a case of ' Laceration of the (Esophagus/ in the ' Veteri- 

 narian,' vol. XXX, p. 548. 



